Dolan Springs man sent to prison for shooting incident

KINGMAN — A Dolan Springs man was sentenced to more than two decades in prison Friday for shooting another man in the head.

William Albert Derrico, 68, was convicted in October of attempted second-degree murder, drive-by shooting and two counts of aggravated assault.

Derrico’s attorney, Robin Puchek, said mitigating factors include his client’s lack of prior criminal history. He also argued that the sentences for three of the charges should run concurrently, not consecutively.

Deputy Mohave County Attorney Jacob Cote agreed that those three charges should run concurrently but said that a fifth charge should be served consecutively.

Superior Court Commissioner Billy Sipe Jr. found a mitigating factor that Derrico had no prior criminal history and an aggravating factor of emotional harm to the victim. The judge sentenced Derrico to 22 years in prison.

The victim sat in front of a Dolan Springs cafe in the early morning hours of July 6, 2017, using the cafe’s Wi-Fi when Derrico got out of his car, armed with a wooden tire knocker. The victim had sold a tablet to Derrico for $35, and Derrico claimed it had a broken face. Derrico demanded his money back, threatening to kill the victim.

Derrico swung the tire knocker at the victim’s dogs as they approached him. The victim then retreated from the confrontation, Cote said.

Derrico went back to his house to get a .380-caliber pistol, then went to the victim’s home where he fired a gun at the victim from his car, grazing the victim in the back of the head. The victim was treated, then later released. Derrico was arrested several hours later.

Puchek argued at trial that the victim was a drug user who probably fell and hit his head on a rock wall by his house. The victim made his way into his house and, hearing a gunshot, believed that he was shot in the head, Puchek theorized.

Cote argued that there was abundant evidence, including bullet casings, the gun hidden in a towel in Derrico’s house, and Derrico’s own profanity-filled statement in a police interview, in which he threatened to kill the victim.